Advent Readalong Week 3, The Death and Resurrection of Christ (in my book it’s the rest of Ch. 4 and Ch. 5)
Some passages to jump off discussion:

“it was not consonant with Himself that He should avoid the death inflicted by others. Rather he pursued it to the uttermost…”

“He accepted and bore upon the cross a death inflicted by others, and those others His special enemies, a death which to them was supremely terrible and by no means to be faced; and He did this in rder that, by destroying even this death, He might Himself be believed to be the Life, and the power of death be recognized as finally annulled.”

“He had come to bear the curse that lay on us; and how could He ‘become a curse’ otherwise than by accepting the accursed death? And that death is the cross for it is written ‘Cursed is every one that hangeth on tree.'”
“it is only on the cross that a man dies with arms outstretched? Here, again, we see the fitness of His death and of those outstretched arms; it was that He might draw His ancient people with the one and the Gentiles with the other, and join both together in Himself.”

[of death] “It is bound hand and foot, all who are in Christ trample it as they pass and as witnesses to Him deride it, scoffing and saying, “O Death, where is thy victory? O Grave, where is thy sting?”

[on whether Christ is alive or not] “Deeds and actions that energize others belong only to the living…The Savior is working mightily among men, every day He is invisibly persuading numbers of people all over the world…to accept His faith and be obedient to His teaching…how is it that He makes the living to cease from their activities, the adlterer from his adultery, the murderer from murdering, the unjust from avarice,…”

“We are agreed that a dead person can do nothing; yet the Savior works mightily every day, drawing men to religion, persuading them to virtue, teaching them about immortality, quickening their thirst for heavenly things, revealing the knowledge of the Father, inspiring strength in the face of death, manifesting Himself to each, and displacing the irreligion of idols;”

“He it is Who has destroyed death and freely graced us all with incorruption through the promise of the resurrection, having raised His own body as its first-fruits, and displayed it by the sign of the cross as the monument to His victory over death and its corruption.”

Personal reflection: In what ways do I fear death? How can I adjust my attitude toward death? Where do I see Christ alive in me and in those around me? What can I give thanks for in those places I see Christ alive in me and those around me?

Advent Read-along Ch. 1-2 Discussion.

1. “The renewal of creation has been wrought by the Self-same Word Who made it in the beginning.”

2. “to deny that God is Himself the cause of matter is to impute limitation to Him.”

3. “it was our sorry case that caused the Word to come down…so that He made haste to help us and to appear among us.”

4. “when they lost the knowledge of God, they lost existence with it.”

Ch. 2 The Divine Dilemma and its Solution in the Incarnation

1. “It was impossible, therefore, that God should leave man to be carried off by corruption, because it would be unfitting and unworthy of Himself.”

2. Regarding repentance as a means to return to incorruption he says, “repentance would not guard the Divine consistency, for, if death did not hold dominion over men, God would still remain untrue.”

3. “He alone, being Word of the Father and above all, was in consequences both able to recreate all, and worthy to suffer on behalf of all and to be an ambassador for all with the Father. For this purpose, then, the incorporeal and incorruptible and immaterial Word of God entered our world.”

4. Speaking of us men, Jesus by taking on our body, would “make them [us] alive through death by appropriation of His body and by the grace of His resurrection. Thus He would make death disappear from them as utterly as straw from fire.”

5. “by virtue of the Word’s indwelling in a single human body, the corruption which goes with death has lost its power over all.

6. Speaking of Jesus that He, “might rescue those who all their lives were enslaved by the fear of death.”

7. “By man death has gained its power over men; by the Word made Man death has been destroyed and life raised up anew.”

8. “Now, therefore, when we die we no longer do so as men condemned to death, but as those who are even now in process of rising we await the general resurrection of all, ‘which in its own times He shall show,’ even God Who wrought it and bestowed it on us.”

A few personal reflection questions come to mind.

In what ways do we impute limitation to Him in our lives, in our sanctification, in our becoming like Him?

In what ways do we forget the Incarnation and Resurrection of Christ and continue to fear death?

When have I acted out of fear (of death or discomfort, etc.) instead of faith?

How can I return to a mind and heart remembering the Incarnation and the Resurrection of Christ in my everyday life?

Thoughts, prayers, and questions for chapters 1&2 welcome in the comments.

I would like to send my greetings to my Morningtide friends for a blessed feast of the Presentation of Mary. I love this story of the Blessed Virgin so much, and this hymn.

Today the Theotokos, the Temple that is to hold God,
is brought into the Temple of the Lord,
and Zachariah receives her.
Today the Holy of Holies is glad,
and the choir of Angels mystically keeps the feast.
With them let us celebrate the feast today,
and with Gabriel let us cry aloud:
“Rejoice, O full of grace, the Lord is with you,
He Who has great mercy!”

Today we remember and give honor to The Virgin Mary, who carried within her God Incarnate, making her the source of Life. Her tomb became a ladder to heaven, as she passed from death to life at her falling asleep.

On this feast we read from the book of Ezekiel, “And the Lord said to me, ‘This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter by it, because the Lord God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut,'” which reminds us to honor the Virgin Mary for her saving dedication to our Lord as she saved herself and wholly dedicated herself to God as an honorable vessel and throne for our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ.

In this image you see that the Virgin Mary has fallen asleep and Jesus is holding a little baby. The little baby represents Mary’s soul. Just as Mary carried within her Jesus, now Jesus carries the soul of Mary. This is why we call Mary the greatest example of a Christian because we as Christians are called to carry the Lord within us, and Mary shows us that we can follow her example.

Morningtide to Eventide would like to wish all our followers a blessed feast.

A week later I dropped out of college and moved to another state, fairly confident I disappointed my Color and Design professor. I even wrote him a lengthy letter trying to relieve my guilt by telling him I was “following my dream,” which was a bunch of (ahem) BS. In reality I was scared, scared that there would be something I couldn’t draw perfectly, scared that I would hear a discouraging word and want to cry or give up, scared to put that paint to the canvas.

I always procrastinated my projects to the last minute. I began the sketch for my first piece for Color and Design class at 8PM the night before it was due. Armed with the big guns, The Cure Complete Box Set with plenty of b side tunes to keep my creative juices flowing, I worked through the night and arrived to class just as it was commencing.

My professor began the class with announcing that we students were to come up to the front in turns and display our art pieces for he and the other students to critique. I not only procrastinated doing my project, but I also procrastinated showing my project to the class. I waited until the professor called out, “is there anyone else…anyone?” while looking at me. I bashfully and slowly walked to the front with my art piece covered, took off the cover and hung my head as I walked back to my desk expecting the guillotine. Surely my professor would metaphorically chop off my head for waiting until the last minute to make my piece.

“Gasp,” I heard my professor suck in his breath audibly. I was so afraid of what was to come next.

“It – is – beautiful! I could hang this in my house today and enjoy it for years. I want everyone to take a close look at this piece. This is truly a piece of art.”

You would think that I would be encouraged by that response and the lengthy critique that followed pointing out my unique and beautiful color and design choices. I can still picture that piece, a sunrise in different shades of orange and strategically placed turquoise, done in Canson art paper. I was actually quite embarrassed and I was still last or second to last to display my pieces after that with the same amount of fear and trepidation each time. Yet, each time I was given very encouraging words from my art teacher until finally he made me promise that I would use my life as an artist. I promised, but I wasn’t all in. I didn’t like the way people were telling me I needed to get used to bragging about my work and that I wouldn’t make it in this dog eat dog world unless I could sell myself as an artist. I got so sick of the artist culture that I quit college and eventually I quit painting and drawing all together until last year.

Last year I took up the brush again, a Walmart paintbrush and some Walmart watercolors and I painted a leaf. I was pretty happy with it, so I painted some more nature pieces, a bird, another leaf, a few seeds, a duck. I started to fall in love again and without the presence of the “art community” I could paint for enjoyment and without the pressure.

Shortly after I started painting again the proposal to design a homeschool planner with a focus on the seaons of the Christian Year fell into my lap, thanks to a suggestion from Emily Kiser of A Delectable Education. I give thanks to Emily and my friends at Charlotte Mason Soirée for encouraging me, I give thanks to God for the opportunity to paint again, and I give thanks to my Color and Design professor. Though I can’t remember your name, I remember you and the impact you had on my life resonates to today. Thank you for making me promise to use my life as an artist. I am finally fulfilling that promise.